National Action charges: Man accused of MP murder threat

A man arrested as part of an investigation into the far-right group, National Action, has been charged with encouragement to commit murder.The BBC understands the charge against Christopher Lythgoe, 31, from Cheshire, relates to Labour MP Rosie Cooper.He is one of six men charged with being members of the banned group.A 22-year-old man, from Lancashire, who cannot be named, has also been charged with the intention of committing acts of terrorism and “threats to kill”.It is understood the threats to kill charge also relates to Ms Cooper.All six are to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.National Action became the first far-right organisation to be banned in the UK in December 2016.It means that being a member of or inviting support for the organisation is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.Ms Cooper said: “I would like to thank everyone involved in this case, especially the counter-terrorism police, for keeping me, my staff and the public safe.”There remains an ongoing criminal investigation so it would not be appropriate for me to comment further.”Who are National Action?By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondentNational Action became the first British neo-Nazi group to be banned last December after Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it was promoting violence and acts of terrorism. Members and supporters applauded the murder of Jo Cox MP by a white supremacist – and the group had carried out a series of small, but confrontational, demonstrations in towns and cities throughout England. One of its most notorious events saw masked members – many of them very young men – gathering outside York Minster to make Hitler salutes. Since it was banned, detectives have been carrying out more and more investigations into the group which, to all intents and purposes, has organised itself in a similar way to the banned al Muhajiroun network – the extremist Islamist youth movement. Both have used social media to target young people, attracting them with a simplistic us-and-them message designed to make them angry. The charges follow a number of raids across England and Wales by counter-terrorism officers as part of a national investigation into the group.The others charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation are: Garron Helm, 24, of Seaforth, Merseyside
Matthew Hankinson, 23, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside
Andrew Clarke, 33, of Warrington
Michael Trubini, 35, of Warrington
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said the men were charged following “co-ordinated activity” by police.
Source: BBC Lancashire